POORLY Demi Anderson is so unsteady on her feet she has to wear a crash helmet. She may be just seven years old but in her short life little Demi has had a constant battle with her health.

Her mysterious condition, which doctors have been unable to diagnose, affects her balance, causing her to fall over all the time.

And the youngster now has to wear a protective helmet and body armour to stop her from hurting herself.

Mum Tracy McKenzie was delighted when she gave birth to her first child and had no idea there was anything wrong.

But at 18 months old, Demi became unsteady on her feet.

Over a few years her condition deteriorated rapidly and she was in and out of Gateshead’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital because she would fall and injure herself so often.

She now has hearing aids in both ears, is losing her sight, cannot keep her balance and needs to wear a protective padded helmet. She has also lost all use of her arms and hands and wears a body brace as well as having an electric wheelchair.

And for her mum, dad Paul Anderson and brother Reece, three, the anguish was intensified when despite extensive hospital tests doctors were still unable to find a diagnosis for Demi’s condition.

Today Tracy, 24, of Sanders Gardens, Birtley, Gateshead, said she fears for her daughter as no-one knows what the future holds for the Cedars School pupil.

She said: “For years Demi has been for tests at most of the hospitals in the region but no-one knows what is wrong with her. She has undergone MRI and ECG scans and had a muscle biopsy, but there’s still no diagnosis.

“In the last year her condition has deteriorated rapidly. She falls all the time, has lost all power in her arms and has to wear a padded helmet because she is unable to put her hands out to save herself.

“I have to be with her constantly – she can’t be left alone at any time. It’s really upsetting because I can see Demi getting frustrated that she can’t play with her friends and do things other children her age can.”

Tracy added: “I don’t think doctors will find a diagnosis for Demi any time soon as they said they’ve never seen anything like it before and I don’t think there will be a cure.

“The thing I worry about is that no-one knows how much worse my daughter will get and what her future holds. It’s devastating because we don’t even know if she will be here in the next five or 10 years.”

To add to the family’s worries, they have asked to be moved to a council bungalow more suitable for Demi’s needs but that has been to no avail. “At the moment we are living in a house when really we need to be in a bungalow so Demi can move about in her wheelchair without having to go upstairs” explained Tracy.

“We don’t know how long we have with my daughter but we want her to be in a safe environment.

“Ideally, we’d like also to have space for a padded playroom.”

A spokesman for Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust said: “As the treatment of any patient is a private matter it is not possible to comment on an individual case.”

A spokesman for Gateshead Housing Company said: “We have been trying to identify possible properties for the family but at the moment there is not a suitable property available.

“We do give priority status to people with special needs. At present there are 300 people on the Home Choice register with medical needs and there are simply not the properties available.